Record filing device



8, 1967 E. T. FLEISCHHAUER ETAL 3,334,635

RECORD FILING DEVICE 2- Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 13, 1965 Aug. 8, 1967 Filed Oct. 13, 1965 E. T. FLEiSCHHAUER ET'AL.

RECORD FILING DEVI CE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent M ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A filing cabinet divider comprising a rectangular panel, vertically extending flanges integral with the side edges of said panel extending at a right angle thereto, legs secured to said flanges and projecting below the lower defining edge of said panel, and a spring bar secured to each of said legs including a detent projecting angularly therefrom and into an aperture formed in the lower end portion of the leg to which it is secured, said legs being pivotally receivable in upwardly open channels carried within a complementary filing cabinet on the base thereof, and said detents being receivable in aperture pairs formed in the side walls of said channels in pivotal fixed but releasably anchored engagement.

This invention relates to improvements in record filing devices.

More particularly the present invention relates to a record filing divider adapted for use in, and in combination with an upwardly open receptacle for maintaining I the contents therein in orderly manner.

It is a particular object of the present invention to provide a record filing divider adapted to be releasably positioned and anchored in channel members disposed in the filing cabinet.

A further object relates to a divider which may be anchored in the cabinet and which is especially adapted for use in small portable filing units which may only be partially filled.

A further object of the present invention relates to an anchor divider of the class hereinbefore described which can also be used as a follower block in a record filing cabinet and adapted to be disposed therein or laid back at the desired angle to permit the contents of the file to be angularly disposed and readily visible to the user.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel record filing device comprising a divider and a receptacle in mutual anchoring engagement with each other.

In general the record filing device of the present invention comprises an upwardly open record receptacle provided with a spaced pair of upwardly open channel members on the base thereof and a record divider extending transversely between the side walls of the cabinet comprising a rectangular panel provided with vertically extending legs secured to the panel and projecting from the lower edge of the panel into said channels where it is pivotally disposed.

The invention further comprises means secured to the legs and separately engageable with means formed in the channels .for pivotally anchoring the divider to the cabinet.

The invention further comprises means for resting the flexible divider at an incline to the base.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention, its details of construction, arrangement of parts and economies thereof will be apparent from a consideration of the following specification and accompanying drawings, wherein:

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3,334,635 Patented Aug. 8, 1967 FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional View through a record filing receptacle embodying the dividers of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a transverse section on line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary enlarged vertical sectional view of a portion of the record filing cabinet and engaged divider.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of the record filing cabinet and a modified form of divider.

FIG. 5 is a section on line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a section on line 66 of FIG. 5.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to FIGS. 1 to 3, the record filing device of the present invention comprises an upwardly open receptacle comprising end walls 10, 10, a bottom 11, and side walls 12, 12. The cabinet further includes a pair of opposed horizontally extending abutment bars 13 secured to the side walls 12 and disposed adjacent the upper edges of said walls for the purpose hereinafter to be explained.

Secured to the cabinet base 11 are a pair of upwardly open channel members 14, 14 disposed adjacent to and parallel to the side Walls 12, 12 and formed with aligned pairs of openings 15.

Disposed within the cabinet are one or more dividers composed of a sheet of material such as metal 16 terminating at its sides in flanges 17, 17 integral therewith and bent at a right angle thereto. To these flanges 17, 17 there is secured, as by rivets 18, vertical legs 19, 19. These legs may suitably be formed of a plastic material and are generally of a relatively flat nature with rounded lower ends, and nest against the inner faces of the flanges 17, 17. Secured to these legs 19, 19 are strips 20, 20 which are suitably of spring steel and are riveted to the legs 19 as at 21, 21. The lower ends of the springs 20 have secured thereto detents or pins 22 extending normally therefrom and are adapted to project through the apertures 15 in the channel members 14 and through .a mating aperture 23 at the lower ends of the legs 19. Thus the dividers may be engaged or disengaged at a suitable point on the base of the cabinet corresponding to the apertures 15 in the channels 14 and as long as the detents or pins 22 remain engaged the dividers are pivotally secured in anchored engagement in desired position; thus adjustable for desired capacity or contents of the filing cabinet.

The divider as previously indicated may be used as a back stop or end divider and caused to lie at a desired angle, say about 20 to the vertical, and in the accompanying illustrations two means for accomplishing this are provided. Thus, in FIGS. 1 to 3 the divider panels include, as is conventional at their upper edges, the index label receiving strips 24. In the present case these strips as best shown in FIG. 2 extend laterally outwardly of the panel 16 as at 25. The lower edge of the strip 24 at its projection 25 is slightly greater in height than the elevation of the bars 13 so that while the panel 16 may be pivoted its projections 25 come to rest on the bars 13 at an angle of about 20 and maintained at such desired incline so that the file contents may similarly be inclined and readily viewable to the user.

Another means for accomplishing resting of the divider at an incline is shown in FIGS. 4 to 6. In this case, in lieu of the employment of the abutment bars 13 and lateral projection 25 on the index strip, the divider is formed with one or more gussets 26 which extend rearwardly therefrom and normally thereto. Desirably these gussets are secured to the panels 16 by the flanges 28 and welded thereto as at 29 in a position such that the lower edge portions 27 of the gussets 26 will be received in channels 14. It will be noted that the lower defining edges 27 of these gussets are at an angle to the bars 19 so that when the edge portion 27 comes to rest parallel 3 to the base of the channels 14 the divider as a whole comes to rest at an incline to the vertical and thus the contents of the cabinet may be spread apart at an angle for ready viewing by the user, and also forms a back stop.

Although we have shown and described the preferred embodiment of our invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in the details thereof without departing from its scope as comprehended by the following claims.

We claim:

1. A record filing device comprising an upwardly open record receptable including a base and side and end confining walls, a spaced pair of upwardly open channel members on said base extending between said end walls and disposed parallel and adjacent to said side walls and a record divider extending transversely between said side walls comprising a rectangular panel, vertically extending flanges integral with the side edges of said panels extending at a right angle thereto, a pair of spaced parallel vertically extending legs fixedly secured to said flanges and projecting from their lower defining edge into said channel members, and means secured to said legs separably engageable with means formed in said channels for pivotally engaging them thereto in fixed position, comprising a spring bar secured to each of said legs including a detent projecting angularly therefrom and into aligned apertures formed in the upstanding components of each of said channels and in the lower end portions of said legs.

2. A record filing device comprising an upwardly open record receptacle including a base and side and end confining walls, a spaced pair of upwardly open channel members on said base extending between said end walls and disposed. parallel and adjacent to said said walls and a record divider extending transversely between said side walls comprising a rectangular panel, vertically extending flanges integral with the side edges of said panels extending at right angle thereto, a pair of spaced parallel vertically extending legs fixedly secured to said flanges and projecting from their lower defining edge into said channel members, means secured to said legs separably engageable with means formed in said channels for pivotally engaging them thereto in fixed position, comprising a spring bar secured to each of said legs including a detent projecting angularly therefrom and into aligned apertures formed in the upstanding components of each of said channels and in the lower end portions of said legs, and a pair of spaced parallel gussets fixedly secured to said panel and extending normally thereto and rearwardly therefrom with their lower defining edges inclined thereto thereby providing means for resting said divider at an incline to said base. 7

3. A record filing device comprising an upwardly open record receptacle including a base and side and end confining walls, a spaced pair of upwardly open channel members on said base extending between said end walls and disposed parallel and adjacent to said side walls and a record divider extending transversely between said side walls comprising a rectangular panel, vertically extending flanges integral with the side edges of said panels extending at a right angle thereto, a pair of spaced parallel vertically extending legs fixedly secured to said flanges and projecting from their lower defining edge into said channel members, means secured to said legs separably engageable with means formed in said channels for pivotally engaging them thereto in fixed position, comprising a spring bar secured to each of said legs including a detent projecting angularly therefrom and into aligned apertures formed in the upstanding components of each of said channels and in the lower end portions of said legs, an abutment bar secured to the inner face of each of said side walls adjacent their upper end portions, and laterally extending means disposed at the upper edge of said divider at a height above said abutment bars for resting said divider at an incline to said base.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,855,870 4/1932 Rinker 12916 1,931,891 10/ 1933 Cooper 12916 2,312,611 3/1943 West 129--28 X 2,537,564 1/1951 Wolters et al. 12916 2,550,117 4/ 1951 Hall 129-16 3,106,208 10'/l963 Reed 129-16 X FOREIGN PATENTS 659,350 3/ 1963 Canada. 102,997 1/ 1924 Switzerland.

JEROME SCHNALL, Primary Examiner. 

1. A RECORD FILING DEVICE COMPRISING AN UPWARDLY OPEN RECORD RECEPTABLE INCLUDING A BASE AND SIDE AND END CONFINING WALLS, A SPACED PAIR OF UPWARDLY OPEN CHANNEL MEMBERS ON SAID BASE EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID END WALLS AND DISPOSED PARALLEL AND ADJACENT TO SAID SIDE WALLS AND A RECORD DIVIDER EXTENDING TRNSVERSELY BETWEEN SAID SIDE WALLS COMPRISING A RECTANGULAR PANEL, VERTICALLY EXTENDING FLANGES INTEGRAL WITH THE SIDE EDGES OF SAID PANELS EXTENDING AT A RIGHT ANGLE THERETO, A PAIR OF SPACED PARALLEL VERTICALLY EXTENDING LEGS FIXEDLY SECURED TO SAID FLANGES AND PROJECTING FROM THEIR LOWER DEFINING EDGE INTO SAID CHANNEL MEMBERS, AND MEANS SECURED TO SAID LEGS SEPARABLY ENGAGEABLE WITH MEANS FORMED IN SAID CHANNELS FOR PIVOTALLY ENGAGING THEM THERETO IN FIXED POSITION, COMPRISING A SPRING BAR SECURED TO EACH OF SAID LEGS INCLUDING A DETENT PROJECTING ANGULARLY THEREFROM AND INTO ALIGNED APERTURES FORMED IN THE UPSTANDING COMPONENTS OF EACH OF SAID CHANNELS AND IN THE LOWER END PORTIONS OF SAID LEGS. 